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December 31, 2013

Wow!! What can I say about 2013?? 2012 was the best year of my life so far so I didn't think this year could possibly live up to that...but I think it came pretty close. I learned a lot about myself, gained lots of new friends, grew in my marriage with Tim and nurtured our new child pup. I thank God for all of the amazing opportunities and blessings that he gave us and I hope you enjoy a little "replay"of those :)

January:

We kicked off the New Year with dinner at Capital Ale House and a marathon of The Walking Dead

I went to my 1st blogger meet-up (cooking demo @ Kitchen Thyme)

We bought a new sofa :)

February:

Gabby and I went to the Chihuly Exhibit

We had our 1st married Valentine's Day and Tim got me this gorgeous Coach purse

I got a new blog design.

March

Went to the Irish Parade and visited St. Johns Church

We got smartphones!

April

We went to Gerald and Michelle's wedding

I hosted my 1st blog giveaway!

I did the Overcome the Lie 40 Day Challenge (and gave up sweets)

May

Tim graduated the Masters program at VCU!

Celebrated Memorial Day weekend w/ Ty and Gabby

We looked for houses but ultimately decided to stay put for another year.

June (always a big month)

I went ziplining for Denise's bachelorette party (and had my first Melting Pot experience)

I planned a blogger dinner at Chuys!

We celebrated our ONE YEAR wedding anniversary!!

I celebrated my 23rd birthday with friends at The Cheesecake Factory

I was a bridesmaid in Denise and Logan's wedding!

July

We adopted Artie (our daschund/beagle pup)

Tim and I were in Olivia and Chad's wedding!

I celebrated my one year blogiversary!

August

Artie's 1st trip to Virginia Tech

I celebrated 1 year at my job!

September

I started an Etsy shop to sell custom watercolors.

We took a trip to Carter Mountain to pick apples (and eat apple cider donuts)

We picnicked at the Roanoke Star.

October

I gained a sister-in-law, Gabby!

We went to Emily and Tyler's wedding at Trump Winery

Artie graduated his training class!

We dressed Artie up as a shark for Halloween

November

We bought a car!

Kim and I went to the Catching Fire premiere (yes, this was a highlight) and got my favorite Frostings cupcakes

December 29, 2013

Below is the list of charities we are donating to in 2014!!

Remember, each month I will give you a short blurb on the chosen charity. This may be included in with other regular posts. It's still not too late to join me in this challenge. You can choose your own 12 charities or use this list. Just comment or email me at samantha.n.shipley@gmail.com so that I can keep up with you!!

I am so excited to be giving back in 2014. We tried to choose a variety of organizations: local, national and international; health, human services and environmental. Each of these have some connection to our lives, whether it be where we live or someone we know that is in need. I hope this inspires you to give back or pay it forward in 2014.

December 21, 2013

So....I barely got this one out before Christmas even though our stuff has been up since the 1st week in December. Our decor is pretty similar to last year but there are enough changes that I think its worth sharing with you.

We have a new (much smaller) tree. Last year we borrowed an artificial one from my granny and I loved it. But our place is so much more full of stuff now that we couldn't fit one that big anymore. We got this little gem on major sale at Target and it works perfectly for the space we have. And I let Tim have his colored lights this year!!

I bought a few new decorations including some mercury glass votives (my mercury glass collection is growing :) I want to DIY more decorations for next year like this, this and this.